


Cosmetic Counter

by ambaila



Category: Suits (US TV)
Genre: F/M, Just something goofy and cute based on an idea from Twitter, No Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2020-11-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:20:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27607537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambaila/pseuds/ambaila
Summary: Donna has a lot of make up, so Harvey asks her about it. It doesn't go the way he expected.
Relationships: Donna Paulsen/Harvey Specter
Kudos: 28





	Cosmetic Counter

It hadn’t been something Harvey thought to ask about. He knew that women liked to smell a certain way, or to have specific products that made them feel good about themselves. And yes, most women he slept with or dated, were brought to his apartment and he didn’t have to ask about the endless supply of beauty products that they deemed necessary for their day. 

When they had first got together, he had watched Donna put on her makeup. The easy way her wrist bent and twisted to apply eyeliner or lipstick, blush along her cheeks. Because everything was still new and they had their own respective spaces, Harvey never really watched her. He never got to see how she - as a woman once told him - put her face on.

Now that they were married, with a shared bathroom, a space that was shared, he realized as minimal as she made it seem, she had a lot of things. He eyed the six different perfume bottles, and the different shades of lipsticks, palettes of eyeshadow and blushes. Harvey lifted the small purple bag and tentatively unzipped it to find various sized brushes. After zipping it back up, he was reaching for another bag, but caught the humored look of his wife in the mirror.

“Finding everything okay?” 

“Do you use all this stuff?” 

Donna had left most of it out from the morning. More often than not, she would beat Harvey home and part of her routine was putting everything away and setting aside her makeup remover and lotion. Tonight though, they had come home together and she hadn’t made it this far into their home yet. When he said he was going to go change and didn’t come back after nearly ten minutes, she came to look for him. It was amusing to find her husband looking at her things. 

“Eventually,” Donna shrugged, pushing off the frame of the doorway and stepping into the space with Harvey. “If they dry out I usually just toss them.” 

“How do you know which ones to use?” 

Donna again shrugged. “It depends on my mood. It depends on what I wear. In New York if we had an event I would run home and change. Shower too maybe.” 

“And if you didn’t have time? 

“I would touch up my make up. Maybe change lipstick color.” 

Harvey nodded as if he understood what she was saying, but it really was foreign to him. It’s not that he didn’t care, it was just never important. Except, now, for whatever reason, he had to know. This was one of the things he didn’t know about Donna and there was a nagging voice that made him want to know.

“What did you put on today?” 

“Well you’ve seen my face enough today that you know I put make up on,” Donna laughed.

When Harvey gave her a pointed look, she rolled her eyes. 

“Do you want me to walk you though my routine?” 

Harvey nodded and a small smile crept along Donna’s lips, curling up on one side. 

“Okay,” Donna gave in. “Sit.” 

“What?” 

“Sit down,” she said, pointing at the small stool that he didn’t realize was tucked under the counter. 

Harvey pulled it out and sat, as she ordered him to. He watched as his wife gathered a few objects in her hand and eyed him. She tilted her head with pursed lips and went back to the products on her counter. She picked up a smaller bottle and then hiked up her skirt. 

To his surprise and pleasure, Donna straddled his lap, the small bottle of lotion in her hands. She squired a small dab onto her hands and before she was able to touch his face, he took a hold of her wrists.

“What is that?” 

“Lotion,” Donna laughed. “It’s a moisturizer. It won’t kill you.” 

“Did you bring it with you from New York?” 

Donna nodded and smoothed her palms across Harvey’s cheeks. She let her thumbs dig gently into his cheeks, smoothing the lotion across from them. He watched her as she did so, a small smile seemingly permanently living on her lips. 

“Now what?” Harvey asked, when Donna leaned back. 

She narrowed her eyes and eyed the dark blue tie he wore. “Well. Normally I would start with the eyes.” 

Donna leaned back and reached for the mascara tube that she had left half opened. She closed it tight, shook it and then re-opened it. Again Harvey took her by the wrist, stalling her movements.

“You putting that on me?” 

“You have a problem with it?” 

Harvey shook his head and Donna curled a finger under his chin, tilting his head back. This was never something he would ever have voluntarily let her do, which was odd that he was doing it now. Donna hadn’t heard of him having a bad day. In fact, a new client had signed and a client who was threatening to leave was staying. Donna had gone through a company’s financials relatively easy, hitting a snag with the company who processed payment, but nevertheless - it was a good day.

He had been quiet and contemplative on the way home and she was going to ask if he was alright, but seemed fine. Just odd that she was sitting in his lip applying mascara.  
  
“We can move forward with the Sentinel Case.” Donna said, rotating her wrist to apply mascara to Harvey’s other eye. “It seems like someone quit and hadn’t been replaced.” 

“How is that possible?” 

“I don’t know,” she shrugged, pulling her hand back and eyeing her work. “It’s been like that for a few months.” 

Donna tossed the mascara back on the counter and reached for the thin pencil that Harvey knew was eyeliner. She also reached for a golden tube that he hadn’t seen before, but figured they had something to do with each other.

“I don’t want to make you look like a racoon, so you’re going to have to pick.” Donna said. “Liquid or pencil?” 

“Liquid or pencil?” 

Donna nodded. “Eyeliner.” 

“No,” Harvey said, shaking his head. “Nuh-uh.” 

“Harvey” Donna sighed, letting her arms drop on his shoulders. “I promise I won’t make you look like a racoon.” 

“What do you use?” 

“Both,” Donna said, smirking at the way he groaned. “Liquid on top, pencil on the bottom.” 

“Fine,” Harvey groaned.

He let Donna apply makeup to his face, listening to her and following her instructions. They fell into an easy conversation about the next week at work. Another new client meeting which had the potential to bring in a small firm of people. It wasn’t necessarily a merger, but they were going to be working out of the same building. The client wanted to be close because of the services required. 

That work had been given to Mike and Rachel, whose names still were on the letter head of every sheet of paper. That was soon coming to an end, when Specter was being added too. Donna had told him that they could add Paulsen honorarily, but she denied them. She was the other Specter. She, in a sense, would be up on that wall too. 

Donna leaned back and hummed at her work. She smirked as she slid the palette along the counter. She was still amazed at the amount of trust he had put in her to let her sit here and do this. 

“Are you done?” Harvey asked. 

“Almost.” 

She took his face in her hands and pressed her lips to his. She felt his fingers dig into her back and she curled in, shifting her hips forward. She smirked as she pulled back, pleased with her work and his reaction to the way she just pressed herself against him. She slipped herself against him, enough to press her forehead into his neck, giving him a view of the mirror and his face.

The way he groaned at the sight, made her laugh. He felt the warm huff of breath against the underside of his jaw. It was then that Donna uncurled himself from him and slid off his lap, standing and coming around him. She placed her hands on his shoulders, looking at him in the mirror, admiring her work.

“Would you divorce me if I took a picture and sent it to Mike?” 

“Yes,” Harvey said quickly. 

“Would you divorce me if I took a picture and sent it to Rachel?” 

“Donna!” Harvey groaned, standing up and turning to her. 

So she may have smudged the eyeliner at the corner of his eyes. And the mascara may be clumpy on his eyelashes, but she got it on him. 

“Shit,” Donna gasped. “Hold on.” 

Donna stepped out of the bathroom quick enough to peak Harvey’s interest. When she came back, her hands free, he raised an eyebrow. She shook her head and went to the counter, where she began putting her items in their respective bags. She felt a hand come around her waist, then the other and a pair of lips against her neck. Once again she matched eyes with Harvey, who was pulling her phone out of her dress pocket. 

She smirked and shrugged. “I want a picture.” 

“For blackmail?” 

“Among other things,” Donna smiled. 

With his head tilted into hers, with his face visible for the camera, he took a picture of them. Donna smiled softly at their image being captured and saved to her roll. She took her phone from him and slipped it back into her pocket. It wouldn’t go anywhere. She just wanted to torment him a little bit, to throw it in his face. Honestly, she would probably delete it before they went to bed anyway.

“There,” he said with a feigned huff. “Now how do I get this crap off my face?” 

Donna lined up six bottles. All of which varied in sizes. She noticed how her husband’s eyes went wide at the sight of said bottles. It caused to her to start laughing, pressing the back of her hand to her mouth.

“All of that to get this off?” Harvey asked, indicating the very minimal make up she put on him. 

“No,” Donna laughed, shaking her hand. “Just this.” 

She handed him a bottle of face wash and shoved the rest aside. Donna flipped on the warm water and let it run, checking on the temperature. Harvey never complained about it being too cold unless, it was actually cold in the apartment, which Donna refused to let happen.

“I’ll be in the living room.” she said, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

As she pulled out the basic ingredients for their decided dinner, Donna hummed as she moved around the kitchen. She thought back to the days where she would be touching up her own makeup in the Pearson/Hardman bathrooms. Where she made it a point to pack her choice of lipstick and perfume. The perfume she knew Harvey liked. Now, she made it a point to make sure she never ran out. 

It didn’t take long for Harvey to rejoin her, his face free of the eyeliner and mascara, the shade of eyeshadow she tried to use that best matched his skin tone. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips, tilting her back. 

“I can’t believe you use all of that,” Harvey sighed. “It seems excessive.” 

Donna laughed and shook her head. “I don’t. Not anymore.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“I have two sets of powder,” Donna shrugged. “One that makes my skin glow, one that doesn’t. I use the one that doesn’t.” 

“Why?” 

“My morning routine now involves other ways to make my skin glow,” Donna challenged, raising an eyebrow. 

The way Harvey blushed brought a smile to her face. She pulled out a pot and flipped on their faucet, filling it with water.

“Chop faster,” Donna ordered, pointing her finger at the vegetables. “I’m hungry.” 

“Yes dear,” Harvey quipped, picking up the knife and slicing the bell pepper before him. 

They lapsed into another conversation about her make up. Harvey asked all the right, leading questions - the lawyer in him getting as much information as possible to make his case. Not that he had one to make, he was just curious. He found that the lipstick shade she picked complemented the color of dress she chose. The same with her eye shadow.

The amount of eyeliner she decided on was determinant on her mood. Harvey asked if it was the same for everyone, or if people had habits. Donna had shrugged. Her choices weren’t necessarily personal, but she found over the course of the near two decades with him, he had favorites. Donna revealed that the core set, which were currently spread all over their bathroom counter, were his favorites. The same with the perfumes, which she realized were only three or four. 

It was later, after she had cleared her own face, and Harvey took her on that counter, she finally crawled into bed next to him. She was smiling as he curled himself around her, his arm firmly wrapped around her waist, his face buried in her hair. 

Just before she drifted off to bed, her mind drifted to her phone, which still had the image of her husband with make up on. 

It was that image that she was thinking about as she drifted off to sleep. Her inquisitive husband who just had to know. 

And she loved him. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you all for reading! Let me know what you think!


End file.
